Swansea City came up short against Southampton on Saturday at the Liberty Stadium. The momentum that the Welsh club had built since mid January is now over with their 1-0 defeat.

The Jacks enjoyed two victories in their four game unbeaten run. They defeated Watford 1-0 last month, then followed that up with a rare away victory against Everton as they defeated the Toffees 2-1 at Goodison Park.

However, the next two matches ended with 1-1 draws against West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace. The two games had a couple of things in common; wasted opportunities and surrendering leads. The Swans created a combined 36 shots in both matches and only seven of them were placed on target.

This game against the Saints was no different to the two recent draws, bar the lack of a point at the end. The Welsh club created 13 chances and only two of their shots were on target. With such a poor performance from the attack and the defence allowing Southampton to take 14 shots, it was no surprise that the Swans lost the game.

Here are the rating of the Swansea players on Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against the Saints.

Dodgy defending

Lukasz Fabianski (5): The Polish international did make four saves in the match, but he failed to stop Shane Long’s header. He managed to get two hands on the ball but was not able to hold on, and the ball slipped through his fingers to give the Saints the eventual 1-0 victory.

Angel Rangel (5): The Spaniard was ineffective on the attack and struggled to slow down the Saints attack.

Ashley Williams (5): When Long headed in the game winner, Williams was lost in no-man’s land. The Southampton forward was wide open when he scored and the Welsh international was right behind him.

Federico Fernandez (5): The Argentinean international, similar to the other defenders, struggled against Southampton.

Neil Taylor (5): Taylor and the rest of the defense struggled to keep up with the Saints attack. Taylor also failed to bother Southampton when he went forward himself.

Lack of creativity

Leon Britton (5): As always, the midfielder did his best and fought hard to help maintain possession for the Swans, but he failed to help them create many clear cut chances going forward.

Andre Ayew (6): The Ghanaian international fought hard and even managed to have two shots - the only ones that were on target for Swansea. 

Wayne Routledge (5): The winger attempted to cause problems for the Saints in the match. However, he failed to do that and then was subbed off in the 61st minute for Modou Barrow.

Jack Cork (5): The Englishman was very ineffective on Saturday, struggling to keep possession or create much.

Gylfi Sigurdsson (5): Sigurdsson has been the best player for the Swans for the majority of this season, but this game was not his greatest. The Icelandic international did take three shots, but none of them hit the target. The worst miss came late in the first half when Paloschi flicked the ball to him. Sigurdsson was open in the box and had time, but he shot the ball high over the crossbar.

It was a day to forget for Sigurdsson - and all of his teammates really. | Photo: BPI
It was a day to forget for Sigurdsson - and all of his teammates really. | Photo: BPI

Alberto Paloschi (5): The pesky Italian striker continued to fight in the box attempting to hold on to possession. However, he only managed to get off one shot in 90 minutes, which is not good enough from your striker.

No impact from the bench

Modou Barrow (5, 61st min.): The Gambian international is usually able to cause problems, but he failed to do that on Saturday.

Kyle Naughton (5, 67th min.): The full back was brought into the game on Saturday, but was once again the wrong man subbed in. A more offensive player like Leroy Fer or Jefferson Montero was needed in this game.

Bafetimbi Gomis (5, 73rd min.): Similar to Barrow he struggled to make an impact in the match.

Guidolin's decision making can be questioned

Francesco Guidolin (4): His great start has gone cold and once again his decision making is being called into question. Why bring in Naughton? Yes, he brought in the speedy full back before the Saints scored, but a person like Montero might have made the difference. However, the Ecuadorian international was not even on the bench for the Swans in this match, which is baffling since this attack is becoming predictable.

Now the Welsh club are only three points away from the relegation zone. If Guidolin does not turn things around quickly, Swansea might fall back into the bottom three of the Premier League.   

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About the author
Jorge Belon
My name is Jorge Belon. I’m a writer for VAVEL USA and VAVEL UK. My focus is on soccer. Throughout the years I have created different blogs all revolving around soccer. My first was Mr. JB Soccer in 2012. Now I currently operate Belon Soccer News (BSN), where I cover soccer mostly from North America and international tournaments. I am a college at Los Angeles Valley College. I was a part of the college newspaper, The Valley Star for two years. At the Star I held the position of Sports Editor, News Editor, Managing Editor and Editor in Chief. I have been writing about soccer for the past three years. I have covered: Major League Soccer, Gold Cup, Under-20 Men’s World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Men’s World Cup and many more.